Talk about it!
by strawberry7
Summary: Don’t read if you haven’t read Number 5. After yet another eventful year, Harry, who is now thoroughly depressed and so he should be, has to go back to school. Both muggle and Wizarding worlds are in chaos, so it’s no surprise to see that Hogwart’
1. Default Chapter

**Summary:** Can you really change so much over such a short time? Does there have to be a reason? Is it because your influenced or just disillusioned? Conflict brings out your true self for everyone to see.

**Author's notes:** God its bin along time since I wrote anything…my eyes and ears hurt. Damn spider solitaire, its messing with my head. Anyway, I took my old story, which I think I deleted, I'm not quite sure, and I'm going to start again and make it better. I also couldn't find the marks for the OWL exam grades, so I made some of them up. 

So, my disclaimer, (I'm gonna write it now so I don't have to do it at the top of each chapter because I'm lazy!) I don't own any of the characters in the book 'Harry Potter' by J. K. Rowling; I'm just borrowing them for a time, and creating my own characters.

Enjoy…

"Speech"  

(My notes)

Letters 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**The Wrong Side of the Rainbow.**

**Chapter 1.**

_Dear Ron,_

_Thanks for the chocolate, it was much appreciated. My birthday was crap, as usual. It's a shame I can't come over, but Dumbledore's right, it's too dangerous. I'll see you in Diagon ally though, I can't write any details for obvious reasons._

_Harry._

Ron sighed and put down Harry's letter. He was getting worried, Harry hardly ever wrote to him any more, and when he did, they were short and empty of feeling.

There was a knock on his bedroom door, and Ginny called to him softly,

"Dearest brother…are you in there…are you awake…and are you descent for my eyes to see you?"

"Yes."  He rolled his eyes, why was she so annoying?

The door opened and Ginny bounced in, carrying another letter. But she stopped, as soon as she saw the look on his face.

"Let me guess, Harry's written to you again." Ron nodded, "Can I read it?"

Ron handed her the letter. Ginny perched on the end of his unmade bed.

"He doesn't write much anymore, poor thing. Any news from Hermiony? She's written to me loads of times..."

"Yeah, which you keep telling me, but will you let me read them? No."

"Well…you wouldn't understand them."

"Why not, I'm not that stupid!"

"I never said you were, it's girl talk, that's all."

"So I can't 'understand' it then."

"Ron, take a look at your anatomy. You don't appear female, or maybe there's something you're not telling us…"

Ron glared at her.

"Go away if your going to be like this."

"Oh…go look in the mirror, you never used to be this grumpy. You need a girlfriend! Anyway, your Hogwarts letter has arrived," she through it at him, but missed, "Damn! You should get your results. Mum says to come downstairs after you've opened it and tell us what you got."

She smiled at him, and then left.

Ron sat staring at the envelope sitting on the floor in front of him. He slowly lent down and picked it up. His heart was beating in his throat.

He took a deep breath and opened the letter.

There was the usual notice about the start of turn, but he could read that later. The last piece of parchment; his OWL results. 

_Dear Mr. R Weasley,_

_We are glad to inform you of your OWL results._

_Potions: A_

_Charms: A_

_Divination: E_

_Care of Magical Creatures: O_

_Defense against the Dark Arts: O_

_Transfiguration: E_

_History of magic: A_

_Astronomy: A_

_Herbology: A_

_Congratulations, you have 8 OWLs._

_The Board of examiners._

Ron stared at the parchment in front of him, gob smacked. He had 8 OWLs. He never thought he would do this well!

He stood up quickly turned and darted out of his room, the letter clamped firmly in his hand.

"Mum…MUM!" He screamed.

"Dear…what is it? Have you opened the letter?" Ron was running down the stairs so fast he nearly ran face on into her. He skidded to a halt, just in time,  

"8…I got 8!"

Mrs Weasley gasped and clapped her hands together in sheer delight.

"8! Oh Ron!"

And with that, she grabbed him round the middle, lifting him clean off his feet and spinning him around.

Ron gasped in surprise; his mum was a lot shorter then him, and it was a quite shock that she was so strong.

"Please put me down…Help!"

Ginny ran out of the kitchen to see what was going on and burst into hysterical laughter.

"Wait till Fred and George hear about this!"   

Mrs Weasley put him down and hugged him, tears in her eyes.

"Your father will be so proud!"

Ron couldn't help grinning.

"Are you prefect again?"

"Don't know, I didn't look."

"Well…go on. Oh well done Ron."

"Yeah, well done!"

"Thanks Gin."

Ginny grinned at him while he gave the letter to his mother and ran back upstairs.

Ron bounded into his room again, grabbed the envelope from his desk and tipped every thing out. There was a form that he'd never seen before, the Hogwarts letter, a blank sheet of parchment and, at last, a shiny prefects badge.

"Yes!" He began to dance around his room.

After the short blast of euphoria had disappeared he scooped up the letters contents and headed down the stairs…again. 

He walked into the kitchen. His mother was sitting at the table with Ginny and Mr Weasley's head was in the fireplace.

"RON! Excellent, your mother has just told me the good news! Well done, I'm very proud of you, have you been made prefect again?"

Ron nodded, walked over to the green fire and his father's head, and held out the badge.

He heard Mrs Weasley gasp. 

"Well, well. I'll try and get back early tonight, and we can have a celebration. I'd better go, you know how closely the floo network is being monitored, I don't want to stop anyone else using it."

"Bye Arthur!" 

"Good bye everyone!"

Ron and Ginny waved as Mr Weasley's head spun out of view and the fireplace became empty.

Mrs Weasley got up and began to clean up the breakfast things.

Ron sat down next to Ginny and opened up all the letters.

He read the Hogwarts letter first.

_Dear Mr Weasley._

_In light of the events of last year there have been several changes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Firstly, as it is time for you to choose your subjects for the coming year, we ask you to take time over your decision. To choose your subjects, there is a blank piece of parchment enclosed. Write your name clearly at the top and then list the subjects you wish to take, from top to bottom. This must be sent back within three days of receiving this. Only take the subjects you find necessary. _

_Secondly, there have been more security measures around Hogwarts. Auror's and security trolls will be added and there will be constant security checks._

_Thirdly, I am proud to announce that another school will be joining us this year. We are happy to welcome students from the Five Feathers Academy for High Magic. We expect that all students will show them the utmost care; prefects are also called on to show them around our school and answer any questions they might have. Extra dormitories have been added to accommodate our gests. Years 1 and 2 will be staying with Hufflepuff, Years 3, 4 and 5 with Ravenclaw, Years 6 and 7 with Griffindor, and the upper students with Slytherin._

_Next term starts on the first of September._

_Yours truly_

_Professor M. McGonagall. Head of Transfiguration._

Ron and Ginny looked at each other,

"Mum…have you ever heard of the Five Feathers Academy for High Magic?"

Mrs Weasley looked at them thoughtfully. 

"I have once, but only in passing. It's a very new school; I know that. I think Dumbledore had a part in it's starting. Why do you want to know?"

"Well, the letter says that the students and teachers are staying with us this year."

"Really? Ginny, go and open your letter, see if it says something about it." Ginny nodded and fetched her unopened letter from beside the sink. She opened it, pulled out her letter and scanned it.

"It doesn't say the same thing, but…yes it mentions it. Wow, new students!"

There was a pause,

"I wonder if Harry's got his letter yet."

Mrs Weasley gave Ron a sad smile,

"Well, we'll see next week when we meet him in the Leaky Cauldron."        

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, first chapter finished…please R/R!


	2. chapter2

**Author's notes: **Well…second chapter. Well done me! It think that it's going to take me quite along time to write this story, but bare with me…I'm getting there. It's because of all the homework year 10 seems to bring. Anyway, R&R people!

"Speech"  

(My notes)

Letters 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Chapter 2.**

Ron was sitting on the train, facing his sister. She was unusually quiet, so was his mother. 

They must feel like I do…he thought. He was nervous, there were two days left before school, and they were on their way to meet up with Harry and Hermiony at the Leaky Caldron. The only problem was, he wasn't sure on what he was going to find there, Harry had been so quiet, he wasn't sure on what state he was going to be in. He hadn't been in much contact with Hermiony either. She had been very busy over the holidays. Only Ginny seemed to know what she had been doing, and she refused to tell him anything.

A grumpy old man pushed passed him roughly, damn muggle trains, he thought. They had to use it as the floo network was being monitored and now was only meant to be used for emergences, as for port keys? He didn't even want to think of all the restrictions that were now in place. The only good thing about the new legislations was that the Minister of Magic Fudge had finally accepted that Voldermort had returned. 

Ron glared at the old mans retreating back. He was nervous about seeing his two best friends again stupid really, but he had a right to. So much had happened over the past few years, and it had changed them…their relationship. They had grown up…a lot. Fred and George had said that he was no fun anymore, when they came over to see them in the holidays. He'll show them!

Ginny shifted in her seat and looked up from the magazine she was reading, agitated.

"Mum, how much longer? I'm really board!"  

"Don't worry, it shouldn't be much longer…"

As if in answer, the train began to slow and they cruised into Paddington station.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hermiony…HERMIONY,"

The headphones were removed,

"We're here darling."

"Oh, thanks mum."

The car door was opened and Hermiony stepped out. A group of teenage muggle boys passed her and stared, stopping a few meters down the pavement, talking in overly loud voices in hope that she might notice them. 

Hermiony smiled inwardly, this had been happening a lot lately. She tossed her now strait hair over her shoulder and took off her sunglasses. She turned, smiled at the group then walked over to help her father with her trunk. She could still feel their eyes on her as she purposely bent over more then usual, letting them get a better glimpse of her long legs. 

Spending the summer with what her mother called bad company had changed Hermiony. She was no longer the geeky bookworm, in fact, now she was more laid back, and confident with her body. She was no longer a naive little girl, although still eager to learn, she had had a taste of rebellion and was craving a bit of fun.    

Her mum locked their car and they set off up the street in search of the Leaky Cauldron.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tom directed Ron to the highest set of rooms. 

He struggled up the stairs, before tripping up over an edge of carpet in the corridor.

"Shit." He mouthed. Ginny giggled behind him, before turning off into her room. Ron was left alone with a throbbing foot. He walked up to the door at the very end and opened the door with the key he had been given.

Inside the room it was dark, and dust swirled around him in beautiful patterns shown up by the sliver of sunlight that came from the thin crack in the curtains.

"Harry?" his voice seemed muffled and weak. 

There was a movement in the shadows, a lamp was lit, and Harry came into view. There was a pause as they looked at each other. Ron was shocked; Harry was completely different. He looked gaunt and thin, his hair, longer then usual was unkempt and he had grown a lot.

Ron got over the initial shock of his friends appearance, dumped his stuff on the floor and walked forward to meet him.

"Hi…are you ok?" Ron gave him an apprehensive look. Harry's eyes seemed to bore into him.

"Fine."

Ron gave a weak laughed and drew Harry into a one armed hug, but instead of feeling better, this gust gave him more of an impression of how thin his best friend was, and how his shoulders shook. He pulled away and Harry rubbed his eyes in a tiered way. 

"Your too thin mate, mum will have a fit!"

Harry shrugged, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"I've grown though, I'm catching you up."

"Yeah…you've got to stop that. I'm meat to be the tall one remember, has Hermiony turned up yet?"

"No. Where's your sister?"

"In her room, I'm bunking with you."

Together, they helped Ron unpack and Harry opened the curtains to give them better light. There conversation was polite, and occasionally, the mirror in the corner would give her opinion on 'Wizards today'. Ginny gave them a visit to give Harry a hug and to embarrass Ron, something she had been doing a lot lately.

The morning slowly passed to afternoon, and Ron had kept the subject off what was going on in the wizarding world at the moment, but inevitably, it came up.

They were both on Harry's bed, Harry was lying on his back staring at the ceiling, while Ron lent up against the wall at the end.

"So…what's been going on?"

"I've told you all about my summer…"

"You know what I mean." There was a pause. Ron sighed.    

"A lot. There've been attacks…on muggles, they're getting more and more frequent."

"I heard about that. They gave me occasional news updates at the Durslie's. After the attack on Dudley, they want to know what's going on, for protection."

Ron couldn't help but grin at the heavily sarcastic tone his friend used,

"You still hate them, huh!"

"Well…not so much. Vernon cant stand me still, neither can Dudley, but Aunt Petunia has. Ever since she found out that Voldermort was back, she's been a bit kinder and sympathetic. Apparently, she doesn't loath her sister as much as she first made out."

Harry turned his face away from Ron and looked at the wall. "Anyway, don't try and change the subject. What else has happened?"

"Harry, I don't know that much, you know. I'm not the infinite pool of knowledge you seem to think I am!"

He caught the look Harry gave him.

"Fine, 'He' hasn't been sighted very much, I think it's only twice, but his death eaters have been very active. He's busy recruiting still. Meanwhile, everyone else is in on high alert. You can only use the floo network with heavy security, port keys are nearly all band, and there's aurora's swarming the high profile places."

Harry sighed.

"Thanks. Is that all you know?" Ron nodded.

There was a pause; the air seemed to get thicker. Ron decided to change the subject.

"Have you had you Hogwarts letter yet?" Harry nodded. "What have you chosen to do?"

"Every thing McGonagall said, what about you?"

"Same. Did you here about the new students?"

"Yeah."

Another pause.  "Are you prefect again?"

"Yeah, got my badge with my letter."

"Well done!"

"Thanks, I bet Hermiony is as well."

Harry smiled sadly, 

"Yeah…She's been writing to me a lot lately, she's been really nice."

Ron frowned at this latest piece of information, was he the only one who hadn't heard from Hermiony?

Silence followed, while Harry plucked up the courage to tell his best friend the thing that had been plaguing his mind most of the holiday.

"I take it that Dumbledore didn't give you the letter personally did he?" Ron shook his head, "Because he delivered another letter to me at the same time, well…I wouldn't call it a letter…more like…Ron, Sirius left everything to me in his will…"

"What?" Ron gasped, staring at his friend.

"I…I had to sign a document, allowing the order to continue using Grimmauld Place, because it's mine…now that Sirius…is gone."

Ron sat and stared at his friend, his mouth open. Harry's eyes clouded over and the shadows playing across his thin face made him look like death warmed up. Ron was scared, in Harry's eyes, there was something there he had never seen before, a mixture of Anger and pure hatred.

At that second, footsteps were heard on the stairs, followed by a scream…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mini cliffy here, sorry. So, how'd ya like it, please review! I want to know that people are actually reading this…go on, you know you want to!  


	3. chapter3

**Author's notes: **Sorry that it's taking so long to write, but I've got a lot on going on at the moment and it's not all good. Still, I think that I'm going to make chapters a bit shorter where needed and try and get on with the main story, so bare with me. Thanks to the lovely peeps that have reviewed, it would be much appreciated if more people did so that I know that someone is actually reading this and then I know that it doesn't suck. Oh well, on with the story then.

"Speech"  

(My notes)

Letters 

/thoughts/

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 3 

Harry and Ron stared at each other in surprise. It was not the sort of sound you would usually hear in this pub. A bust of excited laughter filtered through the door.

Ron grinned,

"I'd know that laugh anywhere, it's Ginny. She'd better shut up or she'll have mum up here!"

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

The door opened and the light was finally turned on. 

Ron stood up the second he realized who it was,

"Hermiony!" He practically ran towards her, and picked her skinny frame full off the ground as he hugged her.

Hermiony gasped in surprise, then laughed.

"Good to see you to!" She grinned as he put her down. She looked over Ron's shoulder at Harry, and the happy smile disappeared.

"Hi Harry." She brushed past Ron and walked over to him. Ron remained at the door, hurt. /She doesn't write to me all summer then goes strait to him. / 

"Wow, Hermiony, you look amazing!"

"Thanks…" He turned to see them in a tight hug. Ron felt his anger begin to build up, but he wouldn't start yelling, no. If anything were going on between them…they would have told him, right? Any way, he was going to talk to Hermiony about ignoring him later on, with no one else around. 

"I've missed you two so much!"

"I've missed you too." Harry had a ghost of a smile on his face.

"No, really…I've been really worried!"

Hermiony looked at them, "I have so much to tell you! Oh! Guess how many OWL's I got?"

Ron grinned, she looked different but by the sound of it, she was just the same.

"What ever it was, I bet it was better then my 8." Ron looked at her; she clapped her hands together happily.

"Ron, that's amazing! You're right though, I passed all my subjects with O." She blushed, modestly.

Ron gaped at her, while Harry hugged her,

"Well done,"

"Thanks Harry, what did you get?"

"8, the same as Ron."

At that second, the voice of Ron's mum drifted up the stairs, "Dinner!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dinner would have been fun if Harry had actually talked. Instead, he sat there, practically silent, playing with his food, eating nothing. Even the arrival of Hermiony hadn't cheered him up.

Hermiony and Ginny were talking together quietly and Mrs Weasley kept giving Harry worried looks, pestering him to eat something. If anything, it was embarrassing, and Ron was desperately wishing for her to stop it and leave Harry alone. Some how, the table seemed empty with just the five of them, and it didn't help that Tom and another unidentified person (an aurora who was part of Harry's bodyguards) were guarding the door into their privet chamber.

When the torture was over, they returned to their rooms with Mrs Weasley's dire warning floating after them,

"You have an hour before we have to lock you in, so if you want to visit each other, do it now!"

As soon as they got upstairs to their rooms, Harry stated that he was tired and got changed, hardly talking to Ron before pulling the covers over his head. Ron was left, perched on the edge of his bed, with nothing to do. Finally, he decided that this was the perfect time to have a little chat with Hermiony. He got up, walked into the corridor and down to the girls room. He knocked and the giggling ended,

"Who is it?" Came Ginny's voice through the door.

"It's Ron, can I talk to Hermione?"

The door opened and Hermione peered at him, 

"What do you want? Is Harry OK?"

Ron's anger began to simmer, why did Harry have to pop up into each conversation they had? Did she really not care about him!

"He's fine, can I talk to you…alone?"

Hermione looked at him, slightly puzzled at the harsh tone he had used.

"Yeah…of course."

She opened the door to let him in. Ginny grinned at him from her bed.

"Can you leave me and Hermiony alone for a bit please?"

"Why?"

"Just go Ginny!" Ron was getting pissed off.

"Oh Ron, you are so kind. No, I can't leave!"

"Ginny!"

She looked over at Hermiony. 

"OK, I'll go!" 

Ginny stormed passed and let the door slam behind her.  

Hermiony walked over to her bed and moved her trunk off the bed so they could sit down.

"There was no need to be rude you know."

Ron ignored this statement, and tried to calm himself down.

"Why don't you sit down?" Hermiony patted a space on the bed next to her.

"No thanks."

There was a pause as Ron worked out how to begin.

"How come you hardly wrote to me over the summer?"

Hermiony looked up and blushed slightly.

"…I was busy."

Ron snorted as she was obviously lying.

"You weren't too busy to write to Harry and Ginny!" 

Hermiony stood up, indignant.

"Hang on, I did write to you!"

"Yeah…like 2 times!"

Ron was gearing himself up for an argument,

"I sent you loads of letters and you didn't even reply! Being busy isn't a good enough excuse Hermiony. I want a strait answer…"

"But…"

He carried on, his voice getting steadily louder.

"At first, I was really happy to see you, and ready to forget the fact that you keep ignoring me. Finally, I could actually talk to you, but you practically ignore me and run strait to Harry. I know a lot has happened to him, but stuffs happened to me to! What's with you and Harry anyway, because if your going out, I think it's a bit harsh not telling me, or am I completely out of the picture now!"

Silence followed his little rampage.

"Nothings going on between me and Harry." Said Hermiony quietly, "I wrote to him because I was scared of what he might do…He's just lost the closest thing to family he ever had, and I was worried that he would do something stupid. As for Ginny…she's my best girlfriend in Hogwarts, the other girls are great but Ginny's like a sister, that's why I was writing to them so much."

Ron was looking at her hard. His anger had subsided a little and secretly, he felt relieved that Harry and Hermiony were not going out.

"That still doesn't explain why you decided to ignore me."

 "To tell you the truth…I don't quite know why I didn't reply. It was like I had a mental block. I couldn't think of anything to say. And it's true, I was busy!"

Ron snorted again,

"You…a mental block, come on Hermiony!"

"No, really…it's different with you. Your still my friend and everything, but…"

"You can't talk to me."

"NO! It's not that. It's just that, well, to me my relationship to you isn't the same as it is to Harry…It's different. Isn't it like that for you?"

She had sat down again looking at him expectantly. This was making absolutely no sense to Ron.

"I don't understand Hermiony. How is it different?"

"I don't…"

She was interrupted by Ginny shouting through the door,

"Mums coming up! Can you two hurry up please? I don't want to get yelled at!"

Ron began to walk towards the door.

"Hay…Wait up."

He turned as Hermiony reached him. She was still quite small; the top of her head only came up to his mouth.

"I'm sorry I didn't write to you, but I can't explain it better then that," Then almost tentatively, "Are we OK?"

Ron softened as her brown eyes bored into his,

"Yeah,"

She grinned with relief.

Something that had been puzzling Ron popped into his head.

"Don't take this the wrong way, I mean, you look great and everything but why all the new cloths and strait hair? I liked your hair curly."

"Don't you like it now?" Hermiony looked upset,

"Yeah, it's just a bit of a shock seeing you like that."

"Don't worry," Hermiony's smile turned into a smirk, "I got board with being the bookworm, so some friends gave me some fashion tips."

At that point, Ginny began to bang on the door, so Ron left the two girls to gossip, disappearing into the dark of his and Harry's room just as Mrs Weasley appeared on the landing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ron sat on his bed in the dark; they had all been locked in a long time ago and it was getting late, but he wasn't tired. 

His mind kept wondering back to the conversation he had had with Hermiony earlier. She felt that their relationship was different to others, and the more that he thought about it; the more he was beginning to agree. He was just not sure why it was different. And her new look was…hot. He had always thought her pritty, but now…he wasn't sure what he thought, but he defiantly found her very attractive. Were you allowed to think your best friend sexy? 

He fell to sleep, very confused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, there you go folks; I got it finished in the end! Go me. PLEASE REVIEW! Pritty, pritty please!


	4. chapter4

**Author's notes: **Guess what? I saw Harry Potter 3 today. And I must say, it is a big improvement on the last two! So, seeing as I've had half term, I have actually got round to writing a bit more. Hopefully, when my year 10 exams are over, I might be able to really get on with this. Don't worry, we are going to get to Hogwarts soon, and then the real action begins. For once I actually have an idea of where this story is going! Go me. Thanks to all you who have reviewed. It's much appreciated.

"Speech" 

(My notes)

Letters 

/thoughts/

Chapter 4 

The sun was poking through a gap in the curtains and had the great idea of shining right in Ron's face. He grunted and rolled over into the shade, but even then he could still feel its heat. It was going to be another boiling hot day. He opened his eyes and could just about make out the mound that was Harry in the bed opposite.

He whispered across the room in the direction of the mound,

"Harry…are you awake?"

The mound moved and a muffled "Yes" came from under the pile of sheets.

He rolled onto his back again, enjoying the sun now he was properly awake. He stretched and sat up with his legs dangling over the side and dragged a shirt from the trunk by the side of his bed. Harry had sat up and was blinking at him trying to distinguish him from the blurry world that appeared when he took of his glasses.

Giggling could be faintly heard through the wall, so it meant that the girls were awake, and then someone squealed and something light, probably a pillow, flumped against the wall. Ron stared at the wall oddly, as Harry searched for his glasses.

"Shall we go visit the girls?"

"Yeah…is the door still locked?" Ron got up and gently turned the door handle. It clicked and the door swung open.

"Cool, it can only be opened from the inside."

Harry got up and stood next to him in boxers and an old baggy tee shirt.

"I was under the impression that we would be stuck in here until someone came to get us out. A definite improvement on the Dursley's."

Ron looked at him, but his face was blanc.

"Fair point."

They walked along the landing and knocked on the girl's door. There was the sound of movement from inside and someone spoke to them,

"Who is it?"

"Me and Harry."

"That isn't good enough, what if you're trying to trick you're way in? Hum?"

Ron rolled his eyes, they were taking the piss. Harry was beginning to bob up and down on the cold landing,

"Don't be stupid, let us in!"

The door opened a fraction and Ginny squinted at them evilly.

"Hum…they look like them, but still…"

Ron took the opportunity and barged in past Ginny, while Harry followed in his wake.

Ginny and Ron began to argue, so Harry ignored them and walked over to where Hermiony was sitting, surrounded by covers.

"Good morning."

Hermiony smiled at him as the two siblings battled away in the background.

"Morning."

There was a pause,

"Did you sleep well?"

Harry feigned interest in the rug on the floor,

"Better then usual, but I still…dream a lot…it makes it hard to sleep."

Hermiony reached out and squeezed his hand.

"Don't worry, if you ever need anything, talk to us. Don't bottle it up. It'll just makes things worse."

Harry didn't answer but sat on the end of her bed, eyes still on the floor. Their hands broke apart. Hermiony shook her head, there was no use talking to him, but she knew people who could help. Ron came over and through himself down on his back next to Harry, in a bad temper.

"Good morning Ron, you seem in a good mood." Said Hermiony cheerfully.

"I was until she spoilt it!"

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him from her bed. Hermiony giggled,

"You two are so predictable!"

Ron was indignant.

"We are not, you are obviously misguided."

"Yes you are, don't argue with me Ronald!"

She hit on the arm playfully.

"Ow…that hurt!" 

Ron pulled an overly sad face, rolled over and tried to crawl behind Harry, who was ignoring them.

"Help me Harry, she's being nasty!"

Hermiony started laughing, but stopped abruptly as Ginny muttered in a voice that carried across the room,

"Flirts!"

Both went bright red and glared at her. Harry sighed, thankful that she had got them to stop. He wasn't in the right mood to get involved in their silly arguments. Ginny smiled sweetly.

"You can stop glairing now, I was only stating facts! I mean, I would have thought that you would have been happy Hermiony, after what you told me this morn…Ouch!"

Hermiony was kneeling up with yet another pillow in her hand.

"Oh…I get it. I'm sorry Hermy, not another word."

She looked so smug that Harry had a hard time trying not to grin, however horrible he felt, it was always amusing to see his friend's squirm. But luckily for the embarrassed duo, something began to tap against the window. Ginny was closest so she stood up and peered through the glass carefully.

"What is it?" Harry went to stand by her. She sighed in relief.

"I think it's an owl, shall I open the window?"

Ron, in a final attempt of looking at anything apart from Hermiony, nodded.

"There's four of us with wands, what can it do?"

Ginny opened the window carefully and moved away.

There were a few tense moments where they waited to see what it was, in fact, Ginny was about to close the window again, when an owl flew in and perched on the top of the wardrobe. Ginny slammed the window closed.

There was a pause where they registered what had just happened.

"Oh my God! Hindi!"

Hermiony leapt up from her bed and ran over to the owl. She stretched out her arm for the screech owl to land on. She stroked the owl's head and turned to face the others.

"I take it that you know who's that owl is?"

Harry raised his eyebrow. Hermiony nodded happily.

"Her name is Hindi and she belongs to a good friend of mine." She undid the string that tied a thick roll of parchment to her leg, and then let the owl go back to the top of the wardrobe.

She walked back over to her bed and sat in her original position. Harry and Ginny joined Ron at the end of her bed. Hermiony unrolled the parchment and stretched it out on her lap while Ginny tried to peep over the edge,

"Can we read it?"

"Hang on, I want to read it first, then I might let you."

Several minuets passed, all three of them watching her as she read it, finally, she coughed.

"I'll read it to you, so I can miss out bits that I don't want you to here…" Ginny made an indignant sound in the back of her throat.

"Umm…Dear Hermiony, having fun? I'm not, gotta go and work…again! Nick and Chrissie are refusing to buy me anything, as usual! We're all missing you. But we'll see you soon anyway. Thought I'd let you know, Dom is back from Jamaica, and is in London, I was talking to him last night and apparently it was amazing. Have still got a hangover but thankfully it's beginning to subside; I don't know how you do it. Keep energetic after drinking all night. James's mum went mad after finding his secret stash of illegal substances; you know which one's those are. I'm getting the photos developed today, before we have to go to school to…blah, blah…see you soon. Love from Jen and the crew, who all say hi by the way!"

Hermiony looked up, "She's a bit crazy."

The door opened and Mrs Weasley entered.

"Oh," She looked at Ron and Harry, "Good, you're all in one room. We are going to go and get your books, do you want to come?" Everyone nodded except Harry.

"Well, we're going in, in half an hour, so get dressed." She gave them a small smile then left.

Ron looked at Harry then at Hermiony, who was looking worried.

"Well, we're going to leave you girls to change."

He grabbed Harry's arm and they left.

As soon as they were back in their room, Ron began to grab clothes from his trunk. Harry just stood in the center of the room, doing nothing. Ron had a vague plan in mind.

He dragged some clothes on and turned to Harry, who was staring at the gap in the curtains.

"Are you coming or what, we've got about twenty minuets!"

Harry shook his head,

"Don't be stupid Ron, I haven't been out since I got here and I'm not about to start now."

"What are you on about? What could possibly happen to you in Diagon Ally?" Harry turned on him,

"A lot, look at what happened in the ministry! I dragged you all there, right into a trap. Do you really think that because we're in 'Diagon Ally' we'll be safe?"

"Harry, calm down! You didn't drag us there at all, we offered to go! It wasn't your fault…" Harry snorted, "So stop blaming yourself. The ministry was a trap, but do you really think my mum is trying to get you killed by inviting you to go with us to buy books?" Harry looked at the floor, "you need to get out Harry, there will be people watching us, keeping everything safe. Relax, we won't be able to do stuff like this when we're at school."

Harry nodded,

"Fine. Go down and have breakfast, I'll get dressed then come down."

Ron hesitated, then turned and left.

Harry waited a few seconds, and then sank down on his bed, his head in his hands. Ron was wrong, it was his fault. He didn't know the half of it.

The courtyard was cast in shadow, which was a relief, as the day was growing very hot. Ron couldn't help but stare at Hermiony, her hair was now in controlled curls down her back and she was wearing a short white skirt with black and pink flowers, a bright pink strappy top and black-heeled sandals. Since when had she ever worn things like that? Was she doing it on purpose? She really did look amazing. He wasn't sure that he entirely liked this change, why couldn't she just stay the same?

His mother was opened the archway and they entered into the narrow Ally, lined with shops. They spent a fairly enjoyable afternoon collection books and window-shopping.

There was still a cloud hanging over them though, there was a lot less people out then usual and those who were brave enough to step out of their houses stared at Harry as if he was a walking freak show. They were also being followed; everyone could sense their presence. Ron felt safe, but the look on Harry's face whenever they spotted one of their bodyguards was murderous. He was glad to get back to the Leaky Cauldron and eat.

Mrs Weasley sent them off to bed early so they could pack their stuff for tomorrow.

Not an amazing ending, but I want to get on to the main story now, so keep a look out for the next chapter! Remember to R&R people!


	5. chapter5n

This is a quick note to clear up some stuff, please read. I'm sorry about the spelling, I happen to be slightly dyslexic and I can't spell very well, it doesn't help that my computer keeps messing up. Grrr. I found out that I had been misspelling Hermione and I'm going to go back and redo that when I've heard from GinnyFan4Ever. I have sent you an email, but I don't know if you've received it. Any way, I'd love for someone to be my beta. Could you email me at so I know you wouldn't mind and I'll send you the first few chapters to look through and I'll replace the old ones with the corrected versions. Thanks so much for all the reviews, just keep them kind when critical. Sorry about not updating in a while, I just want to get this sorted. Thanks,

HB x.


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